Downtempo

On Discogs

Description

Downtempo (or downbeat) music is associated with a variety of different Discogs genres including electronic, jazz, rock, and some world music. It is generally 50 to 90 BPM, and sometimes there is not even any overt percussion in the music.

The Downtempo tag was originally intended to refer to 1990s–2000s chillout or lounge music that has a slow, rolling, hip-hop or dub-inspired groove with sampled beats, and which can be broadly categorized as primarily jazzy, primarily dubby, or both. However, as downtempo is loosely defined, it has become an umbrella term for a broad selection of music with moody tones, chilling to passionate vocals, crossover indie vibes, and mellow beats.

Usage of the Downtempo tag for music from before c. 1989 or as a generic tempo descriptor is likely to be contentious.